Review Summary: Has some of the pieces to make a good album, but ultimately doesn't come together.
When Son Lux, Serengeti, and Sufjan Stevens announced that they were forming a band, reactions were probably mostly that of confusion. When the group released their debut EP Beak and Claw under the same s/s/s, listeners were unsure what to think. I personally did not like it. I felt that it was kind of a mess. However, I still retained faith. I thought that Beak and Claw was simply a test run, an album that resulted from a group of different artists still trying to feel each other out and still trying to work together. I felt that for their first full length release, a full length album titled after the new band name Sisyphus, that they would be able to iron out all the kinks and be able to make some great, original, and interesting music.
And they did two of those three things. The music is certainly new and interesting. I can't think of any other group that sounds like them. The problem is, it's not great. It's not even good. To be quite honest, this album is a rather poor attempt and shows that the confusion and reservation that many had to this group was justified. These three just don't mesh well together on this album.
Of the three, Son Lux is definitely the album's standout. Not only is he the only artist that is featured on every single track, his production is quite interesting, seemingly fit for every situation. From standard rap beats, to more droning industrial drum tracks, to chilled out lounge style R&B beats, Son Lux's production is the glue that holds the whole album together. His versatility and his unique style are probably the main reason this album didn't score much lower and I look forward to seeing what more he could do. If you're interested in some unique beat work, I would certainly give a couple tracks a listen. However, I would not recommend the whole album because of the other two guys in the band.
While I love Sufjan Stevens, he's kind of on autopilot for this album. One of the greatest parts about him, his unique and intricate songwriting is nowhere to be found. On many tracks, like "My Oh My" or "Lion's Share", he's just the hook guy, relegated to singing the chorus, not really giving him a chance to shine. But even on the tracks that he gets all to himself like "Take Me", "I Won't Be Afraid", and "Hardly Hanging On", he plays it rather safe, opting to sing the same couple of lyrics or recycle the same idea repeatedly and not really going anywhere with it. "Hardly Hanging On" is particularly blatant wherein he actually recycles the line "And I may look just like a baby/And I may feel just like a dog" a line that he uses in the track before "Dishes In the Sink." His voice is still fine and it's always nice to hear more of Sufjan Stevens, but there's very little of him on this album. When he does sing, it's the lyrics come across like he's just reciting distilled versions of his Age of Adz tracks. I'm not asking for something grand, it's just that his lyrics tend to repeat far too often and end up getting monotonous, which is a word that I never thought I would ever use to describe Sufjan Stevens.
That brings us to the final member of the trio and by far the weakest link on the album, Serengeti. Serengeti's rapping is quite possibly the biggest stumbling block of the album, which is unfortunate because there's more of it than Sufjan's singing. Like Stevens, Serengeti has a bad tendency to get locked into saying the same things over and over again, which might not be good for a singer but is especially bad for a rapper, who's main job is to dispense the main lyrics of the song. Songs like "Calm It Down" and "Rhythm of Devotion" essentially find him getting to one phrase and routinely coming back to it. His verses of "Calm It Down" are essentially "And when you feel like you just can't stop..." and then filling in the blanks like some kind of Madlib. Meanwhile, "Rhythm of Devotion" features him saying "I don't care if you've been to Japan/I don't care if you've been to LA/I don't care if you've been to Tibet/I'll be right-right where you [verb]" which sounds like it wouldn't be too out of place in a Pitbull song or something like that.
Even when Serengeti isn't being repetitive, he's being stupid with "Booty Call" being the nadir of it. Just reading lines like "Can you huddle with the Capricorn?/Are you still afraid of the storm?/Do you want to make a porn?/(Nah)/What day, what month were you born?/Me, I'm a Cancer/Got all the answers" and the out of place "dance dance with the booty in your pants" refrain on "Lion's Share" (a song that was about criminals, kind of like a rap version of 'Take the Money and Run'). Even if he's trying to be funny, that doesn't really count of as an excuse because a) the lines are more stupid than anything else and b)Serengeti's flow is so lifeless that there doesn't seem to be much humor involved. I may be coming down hard on him, but he is probably the most problematic performer in the group.
Another stumbling block is that there seems to be a lack of unity between the performers. As mentioned before, Son Lux is the only one that appears on every track, leaving some tracks as the Serengeti tracks some tracks as the Sufjan Stevens tracks and some tracks for all three of them. This creates a very strange disconnect when right after hearing Sufjan Stevens' soft crooning on "Take Me" you get hit with some corny, Biz Markie style rapping from Serengeti on "Booty Call." Even tracks where the whole group is together like the aforementioned "Calm It Down" and "Rhythm of Devotion" there is a strange disconnect between the Sufjan Stevens part and the Serengeti part. It's almost like they're part of two completely different songs that are only bridged together thanks to Son Lux's production.
It's a real shame too because there are some good ideas here. As I mentioned before, the beat work is quite good and Sufjan Stevens is always a great singer. Hell, even in "Dishes In the Sink" Serengeti doesn't go with the goofy, repetitive *** and instead raps some surprisingly conscious verses about a life crumbling after a failed marriage with Sufjan occasionally coming in to lend some vocals. This track is probably the best on the album and represents what the group could be if they reached their max potential. Unfortunately, it's marred by several other mediocre and forgettable tracks with many questionable lyrics and poor decisions made. I'm still struggling to remember how tracks like "Flying Ace" and "Me Oh My" even went. Even tracks that had the potential to be great like the closer "Alcohol" where Serengeti once again gets into conscious mode and talks about addiction, it ends up running aground due to the beat running on, unchanging for two straight minutes (probably the biggest slip up of the production).
I don't hate this album. To quote everyone's dad at one point, I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed. I wanted to like this album. I really did and there are glimpses of good music shining through in some tracks. It's clear that the elements are there. But just because you have bread, meat, and vegetables on hand, that doesn't instantly mean you'll get a tasty sandwich out of it. Just because these three wildly different artists CAN make music together, doesn't always mean they SHOULD make music together or at least they do make music together, they should try a little harder next time.
